Adding value is in the details

There’s always going to be added value to be found in the already existing value you are providing, it’s inevitable that there will be opportunities to observe what you are maintaining and thus grow that maintenance.

By not observing what you’re maintaining you may be missing out on opportunity to add value where the slightest adjustment or fine tuning may increase value or decrease what is affecting you to add value.

Race Car teams are fixated on continuous adding value, they don’t just settle for what is, rather they always observe and try to see where more added value can be added to the race cars speed and efficiency.

A tweak here, and turn there and fine tune here and they are adding value, perhaps that small tweak will make the difference between second and third and a different prize in the end.

The same goes with your business, the notion of adding value is a continuous flow of observing what you’re maintaining for optimal performance.

Some call it continuous problem searching or problem finding, and that’s a great way to look at it if you take it for what it really means, problem finding is opportunity seeking.

One scenario I recall regarding problem finding was when I worked with a client who was ignorant to the details of what he was maintaining, the initial added value that I was finding was the finding of the problems itself, something that was going unnoticed because the business was to busy to take the time to observe what they were maintaining and thus didn’t see the added value in looking into it in more detail.

These small details that went unnoticed resulted in expenditure cuts that were not viable to continue with. The added value I found was in various attitude adjustments from the one’s who were maintaining those expenditures. All in all there was about a few dozen problem finds that turned into opportunities which resulted in cleansing the maintenance of the business thus which lead to added value in many ways

The details only come when you observe the current situation of any initiative.

Saving expenses, (even small amounts) is adding value.
Fine tuning a sales page is adding value.
Failing fast and improving on the project experience is adding value.
Bringing in a consultant to do a thorough observation in a particular department is adding value.

Adding value is not about increasing and decreasing, it’s about flowing with the experience of growth, a constant flow upwards and a constant observation of how that upward flow is going.

The bottom line in adding value is in the details.
Observe the details and you will see added value opportunities.

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3 Comments

I agree completely with what you said however still I believe it is only half the truth. The other half is that adding value is in total reorganization. A structure can only be 'so' functional on the level it is on, then it needs to proceed by in fact disintegrate and start all over from scratch. That does not mean the original organization cannot be represented 100%, for it can and it should if in any way possible. The new structure in the new context, has repositioned the old, with new bits or chunks in between, 'grown into it', accounting for modern times, clients, services and gadgets.

Adding value depends on many sides of any organization and starts, for instance, when you implement a recognition program of some sort, for people want and need to be noticed and recognized for their effort.

However, I totally dig this point of view, for I'm a detail freak
I believe 100% in the power of details and what their fine-tuning can bring to any product or service or webpage or app or you-name-it.

Moreover, I just can't go by any untuned details without feeling the urge to do something about it! The big picture is comprised of all the details, if some (or worse: many) of those details fail to deliver, fail their function, the whole thing will be indeed faulty and the big picture will suffer a lot due to it.

Problem is, today, most CEO/COO/CIO/C-whatever, want everything in a flash, everything has to be done in the least possible amount of time and with the least possible resources. The result can't be any good, for all the details will be overlooked. When you're in a hurry, you can't mind the details! Taking care of those takes time and patience and experimenting and tweaking and testing etc etc etc..

Perhaps the most important understanding in "adding value is in the details" is first being able to observe them. Each person in a organization not only has to perform the tasks but they have to be able to observe themselves doing them, not an easy "task" but it's imperative.

Case in point, the particular client i was referring to in the post hired me to help him assess why sales dropped 20% a week, the first thing i had to do was observe the details, the day in day out of the business.

Observe the employees, observe the expenses, observe the marketing, observe, observe, observe. The first week of observation showed signs of why, but when each employee doesn't see for themselves those observations, then everything they do is automatic, and can't be solved on the same level.

Some of these observations are explicit, and evident. but some of them are intrinsic and not so cut and dry. For example, one of the problems as i mentioned above was in employee attitude adjustment.

I observed that the managers were treating the employees "badly" this is a detail, other not so clear details was delivery time, these details are so small that they go unnoticed.

These small details may seem " as nothing" but really they are something that does affect the flow.

The more we are attached the less we can observe the details, attachment leads to narrow mindedness.

Like Sherlock Holmes says, "you may have seen, but you have not observed"